The Emerald City
by mistymorningwritings
Summary: Amber Karev is about to join Grey Sloan's surgical team as an intern. While she's excited about new professional challenges, she dreads the reunion with her estranged brother Alex. The night before the big day, she meets fellow surgeon Andrew DeLuca at a bar. Unaware of Andrew's intricate connection with Alex, Amber starts to fall in love with him. (canon divergence of s15)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: This is just a story I couldn't get out of my mind, so I decided to write it down. I don't know if anybody is actually interested in reading this, given that one of the main character's isn't even on the show and the other one doesn't exactly have a big fanbase. But sometimes you just have to write things down to be able to move on to new stories (or discontinued old stories lol). So here it is. If you like it, please let me know. Reviews and comments always make me happy.**

* * *

The evening before she started her new job, Amber Karev went to a bar. Getting drunk was ill-advised, but she was kind of freaking out about tomorrow - for various reasons - and she just needed one or two tequila shots to numb her mind a little bit.

The place was right across the street from Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, the hospital where her brother Alex was working, and where she would be working as of tomorrow as well. She'd found the bar this morning after her appointment with Chief Bailey, who had officially welcomed the youngest Karev to the Grey Sloan team. Furthermore she'd given Amber her very own hospital ID card and explained a few basic things - like where she'd find the interns' locker room and names of interns whose group she'd been assigned to.

During her brief stop at the hospital, Amber had wandered through the hospital halls cautiously like a deer, afraid she could bump into her brother at every corner. Luckily that had not happened, though. She was not ready to face him yet.

Taking that into account it was a pretty self-sabotaging act to come back to this bar. Alex could walk in here any minute. There was a skeleton wrapped in Christmas lights called Dr. Bones beside the counter, so unless that was a remnant of last year's Halloween decoration, this was definitely a place the doctors from across the street used to socialize.

The bartender brought her first tequila and Amber drained it immediately, feeling the familiar burn in her throat, followed by pleasant heat spreading in her stomach.

Her eyes were caught by the sign with the green neon letters behind the counter. It read _The Emerald City Bar._ So this was what this place was called. Not exactly an imaginative name, considering it was a bar in Seattle. Why was Seattle called the emerald city, anyways? Amber mused. It reminded her of The Wizard of Oz, but Seattle was a city in Washington, not Kansas, so it made no sense to her.

Maybe she should have taken a look at that Seattle travel guide, which was buried somewhere in her unpacked moving boxes. Surely, it would have an explanation for the emerald city thing?

The travel guide had been Aaron's parting gift for her. Ever since he'd heard the news, he'd been all excitement and encouragement, to the point where Amber got the impression her brother was more thrilled about her new job than she was herself. But then she started to wonder if Aaron was actually glad that she was leaving Iowa for good, because he didn't want her around anymore. It was an ugly thought that lodged in her mind, but not unwarranted. With the two-inch scar right under her hairline, her face was practically a permanent display of what he had done to her. Even though Amber had never held it against him, not even once, Aaron could never entirely forgive himself for attacking her that one night eight years ago, during his first schizophrenic episode. And after all this time he was still reminded of his "crime" every time he just as much as looked at his sister. So what if he was just relieved to finally be rid of the source of his guilt?

A jingling sound, coming from the bar entrance, reached Amber's ears and brought her back to the present. At the door there was this little bell or whatever and whenever a new guest entered, it chimed. And whenever that happened, Amber turned on her stool to check out the new arrival.

But the person who'd entered the bar wasn't Alex, just some other guy. Tall, great hair, probably late twenties, Amber assessed quickly. As she turned back to the counter, she drew out a small breath of relief. No, she was definitely not ready for this particular family reunion.

But she knew she could not avoid him forever. There was a pretty good chance she'd meet him tomorrow at the hospital. What would happen when they finally met? Would he be happy to see her? Probably not, she had to concede. Would he even recognize her? Again, probably not. They had not seen each other in years, not since his short visit at the hospital after Aaron had tried to kill her. The last clear memories Amber had of her oldest brother were from when she was ten. The truth was Alex was a stranger to her and she was a stranger to him.

The thought was so depressing, it made Amber order her second shot of tequila that night.

Between the brother who could barely bear to look her in the eyes and the brother who would probably not even recognize her if he looked her in the eyes, her family situation was pretty damn depressing.

Well, at least her mother was doing better now, much better actually. For the first time since Amber could remember, Helen could take care of herself. However, it was not exactly like Amber had imagined it when she'd been wishing for a normal mom as a kid. Helen was still distant in many ways. Amber couldn't just hang out with her or ask her for advice whenever she felt like it. Her mother was very meticulous about her schedules and routines. Which was okay most of the time. Schizophrenia was still looming over her like a dark cloud and it would never go away completely, so her mother had to do what was necessary to maintain her sanity. Amber understood that. Still, not even Helen had seemed overly sad to see her daughter move to another state. She was proud of her, Amber knew that much. But there had been no tears, when they'd said goodbye, no _I will miss you._ And Amber couldn't help but be a little hurt when she thought about that.

"Onion rings and a beer, please," she suddenly heard a voice beside her say. Amber turned around and recognized the young guy who'd come in a minute ago.

The bartender slid a glass of tequila towards Amber, nodded to the guy and disappeared towards the kitchen.

Amber raised the glass, stopped midway to her lips and mumbled under her breath, "To the universe and all the ways it keeps screwing me over."

"Well, that's bleak," the guy beside her remarked.

Amber looked at him. "Excuse me?"

"Oh nothing... I just... I heard your toast and found it a bit bleak." He gave her a slightly teasing smile.

"Uh... yeah, uhm I guess it was." She laughed kind of sheepishly, embarrassed that she'd been caught being ridiculous and dramatic. "I'm starting a new job tomorrow," she said as if that could in any way explain her weird toast.

"I take it you're not excited about that new job?"

"No, actually I am very excited about the job. Well, I'm anxious too, sure. But there's... it's just... it's complicated," she said lamely and started randomly playing around with the empty shot glass, banging it quietly against the counter and turning it between her fingers.

When she looked up again, his glance was still resting on her, sort of thoughtful and sympathetic, as if he wanted to show her that he was still willing to listen, but didn't want to push her to say more.

The guy had something very genuine and trustworthy about him. In a way he gave Amber a boy scout vibe. It seemed like he honestly cared about helping other people, even strangers. And Amber could totally picture him offering old ladies to carry their groceries and stuff like that. Although he had to be close to 30, there was something innocent to him. Like nothing bad had ever happened in his life. Which was most certainly not true, but at any rate it did not look like he had allowed life's hardships to corrupt his decency.

"I got a job as an intern at the place my oldest brother works at," she said eventually, only because he was still looking at her, a faint but encouraging smile on his lips.

"And that is a problem because...?" boy scout guy prompted.

"That's a problem, because we haven't been in touch lately. In fact, I haven't seen him in years and I haven't even told him about the job."

"You don't think he's gonna be happy to have you here?"

"No, I don't think so." Amber shook her head vehemently and strands of her long, wavy blonde hair fell into her face. "He left us a long time ago and he's made it more than clear he doesn't want us to be part of his life." She pushed the hair out of her face, staring at the various liquors lined up behind the bar. Admitting it out loud still hurt.

"Was he a good brother? I mean, when he was still around?"

"I guess so." Amber shrugged her shoulders. "He's way older than me and growing up, Alex - that's his name - had to shoulder a lot of responsibility in the family. Most of it actually. My dad he... well, he wasn't a good guy and my mom struggled with mental health issues back then. Alex had to take care of everything and everyone. He practically raised me and my other brother Aaron. I think eventually he just got sick of all that crap. He wanted a life of his own. So when he left, he left for good. I was still a child back then, so I barely remember him, to be honest."

That was a lie. Amber remembered a lot.

She remembered Alex putting Hello Kitty band aids on her skinned knees.

She remembered that he eventually figured out how to make a decent French braid, but never managed the Dutch one. She'd always made fun of his limited skills as a hairdresser.

She remembered he'd taught her how to count by reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar with her.

She remembered afternoons at the park with Aaron and Alex. When she was feeling well enough, sometimes even Mom went with them. Amber would sit on the swing, her braids flying in the wind, while she was laughing with absolute glee.

And she remembered that stupid Winnie the Pooh quote Alex had framed for her when he left. _You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart, I'll always be with you._ At ten she was already past her Winnie Pooh phase, but that framed quote was one of her most treasured possessions for years. She liked that her big brother saw her as strong, brave and smart, though she was only a kid. And when she missed him most, she found comfort in the notion that he was thinking of her, even though he could not be with her.

What a joke. Like Alex would feel wistfulness for anything connected with his past.

Her chest tightened and silently she berated herself for it. It was time to stop dwelling on useless memories. "I think I need another drink," Amber mumbled and raised her hand to catch the bartender's attention.

"Whoa," Boy Scout put a hand on her arm like he wanted to push it down, but instead he just let it rest there. "Are you sure it's a good idea to get hammered the night before your new job?" His eyes switched back and forth between her face and the two shot glasses in front of her.

Amber sighed and when she let her arm sink Boy Scout removed his hand. He was right. She'd already had the two tequilas she came for and as a matter of fact she did not want to make a bad impression on her very first day at the new hospital.

She looked at the voice of reason beside her and smirked. "Wow, you really are such a boy scout, aren't you?"

"What?"

"You're just... You're so nice. You're worried about some strange girl drinking too much before her first day at a new job. That's just... very caring of you. Nice," she repeated, her tone teasing.

He furrowed his brows. "What's wrong with being nice?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong with it." Her hand rose to her head and her fingers vaguely scratched over the back of her head. It was something she often did when she was embarrassed. She felt bad, because she'd obviously offended him. "I guess I'm just a cynical person. I'm really sorry, though. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't, it's fine. And if it's any consolation, I actually had to deal with a very similar situation like yours with my own sister. She turned up at work one day, totally unannounced and asked my boss for a job. And just the day before I had caught her making out with my roommate." Amber goggled at him like she couldn't believe it. "It's true," he reaffirmed. "I came home one day and there was my sister Carina. In the living room. Half naked. Hooking up with my roommate Arizona."

Amber whistled quietly. "Okay, you win." It made them both burst into laughter.

Boy Scout held out his hand to her. "I'm Andrew, by the way."

Amber took his hand. "I'm Amber."

Andrew's onion rings arrived and when the bartender asked Amber if she wanted anything else she didn't order tequila, but two beers, one for herself and one for her new acquaintance.

He was very handsome, Amber could not deny that. Her first assessment had been right, he had great hair. It was the kind of great hair that made her want to run her hands through it very slowly and thoroughly. A desire she decided to blame entirely on the two tequilas she'd had.

She liked his smile too. And his eyes. And she particularly liked that every time he smiled, it extended to his eyes, like he didn't want to half-ass the happy moments.

Absentmindedly Amber started sipping her beer, while Andrew was occupied with his onion rings. Suddenly he nudged her shoulder. "Hey, you want some?" He gestured to his plate.

Only now did Amber realize how hungry she was. Lunch at the burger place around the corner of her new apartment had been her last meal.

"Thanks. I'm actually starving," she said, biting into an onion ring. So now he was actually feeding the hungry, like the nice and righteous boy scout he was. Amused, Amber smiled to herself, trying to hide it by shoving another ring into her mouth.

Boy Scout caught on to it just the same. "What?"

"I was just thinking this is very nice of you, you know - sharing your food with me. Very boy scout-y."

He rolled his eyes, but then they both just laughed.

While they ate, Amber asked Andrew about his sister. He told her they were getting along fine now, most of the time, anyways. As it turned out, they did not grow up together. Their mother took Andrew with her to the States when the parents got divorced, while his sister stayed in Italy with their father. That's how Amber learned that Andrew was actually Italian and in her eyes that little tidbit only made him that much more attractive.

Her facial expression was drifting dangerously towards dreamy stare, when Andrew brought the conversation back to her brother, which was an instant mood killer. "Maybe it won't be so bad with your brother either," he said. "Maybe he's actually happy to see you and have you back in his life. Maybe he missed you all this time."

Amber shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe... whatever. I'm done talking or thinking about Alex for today I..." She paused and bit her lip, unsure whether she really should go through with what she was about to propose. But if she didn't do this she would surely regret it, so she decided to be bold as long as she could still blame it on the alcohol in her system. "How about we get out of here? Would you mind bringing a drunk girl home?"

Andrew grinned and Amber was glad he'd understood the hint. But then, before he could utter the affirmation Amber was hoping for, the excitement dissipated and his face fell. Sudden storm clouds seemed to have choked his sky. His gaze captivated by the empty plate, his mind had gone to a far off place. Or a far off time. He didn't say anything for a much too long moment.

"Okay uh... I-I think I'm just gonna wait outside for my Uber," Amber mumbled disappointedly. She stood up and started to count money from her wallet to pay her drinks. What had she been thinking? She'd made an absolute fool of herself. She could feel her face flush and wanted nothing more than to get out of the bar as fast as possible.

"Hey, wait." Andrew put a hand on her forearm to stop her from leaving. "It's nothing personal. I just had a really bad case of déjà-vu. The thing is, I've been here before. Taking a drunk girl home from a bar - this particular bar actually - it just never ends well for me."

Amber had no idea what that meant. It was a very cryptic excuse. But it was a "no", that was more than clear. "Okay. Uh... goodbye Andrew." She forced a smile, made an uncertain waving motion with her hand and headed for the exit.

Outside it was raining, which sucked on multiple levels. For one, contrary to what she'd told Andrew, there was no Uber coming for her. She had yet to make the call. She also did not have an umbrella with her, which meant she would get completely soaked waiting for her ride, unless she went back into the bar. But after the way she'd just been humiliated, there was no chance in hell she would go back in there. She'd rather risk getting pneumonia.

So she made the call and then she waited. In the rain.

People scurried past her, busy to get home, because it was late, or simply because they wanted to escape the rain. Amber followed her driver's progress on the mobile app. The dot was moving painfully slow and Amber felt more and more miserable.

Suddenly someone tapped her shoulder. "Amber?"

She turned around and before she knew it Andrew's lips met hers. It took Amber a moment, but then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

By that point her hair was all wet and the rain had not only soaked her clothes, but had started to invade her heels as well. Indifferent to all of that, Amber's heart was doing cartwheels in her chest.

"I just wanted to tell you that I changed my mind," Andrew said, as he drew back. And then he gave her that special smile that lit up his entire face.

* * *

They took Andrew's car and Amber directed him to her apartment complex. Once they'd entered the building they didn't waste any time. They started making out in the elevator and when it reached the third floor, Amber took Andrew's hand and practically ran down the hall to her apartment with him.

She unlocked the door, pulled him inside and continued to kiss him, not even bothering to turn on the light in her tiny kitchen. Amber's apartment was practically a shoe box. There were only three rooms, the kitchen, a bathroom and a living room that doubled as a bedroom.

The peeled off each other's jackets and kicked off their shoes. Amber slid open the living room door and Andrew pinned her against the wall, pulling down the sleeve of her top so he could caress her shoulder and neck. "Okay, wait." He pulled back abruptly. "Just to make sure, you don't have a very angry boyfriend, who will come in any moment and turn my face into mincemeat, right?"

"No, of course not." Amber laughed, thinking he must be joking. But his face was completely serious. He seemed kind of tense even. "Andrew, I would never have asked you to bring me home, if I had a boyfriend, okay?"

Andrew nodded and was about to pull her into an embrace again, when Amber remembered what he'd said at the bar. "Is that what happened the last time you brought a girl home from that bar?" she asked. "You wanted to hook up with her and her boyfriend showed up and beat you up?"

"Not exactly. I didn't want to hook up with her. She was dead drunk and I just wanted to help her get home safely. Then he barged in and completely misunderstood the situation. He thought I was hurting her and he... well, it just got really ugly. For me, that is."

Amber bit the inside of her lip and gave Andrew a pained look of sympathy. "Mincemeat, huh?" Tenderly she kissed his nose, then his cheek and then his mouth. "I promise that's not gonna happen tonight," she whispered into his ear before she guided him to her bed, navigating around half a dozen cardboard boxes, which were scattered on the floor, because she'd barely unpacked any of her stuff yet.

At the bed they started to get rid of the rest of their clothes, their t-shirts coming off first. Swiftly Amber reached to the lamp on her nightstand and turned the switch. The little lamp would give off just enough light to create a tinge of romantic atmosphere in this mostly bare and empty room. Plus she wanted to see Andrew, not just feel him.

First she did what she'd wanted to do since she first saw him. Slowly she ran her fingers through his short brown curls, enjoying every second of it. Then she let her hands slide down Andrew's torso, feeling the bumps of his pecs and abs against her palms. As she had anticipated, his hair was not the only perfect thing about his body. She almost had to suppress a laugh. God, how was he even real?

Andrew pulled her close again. He kissed her neck beneath the jawline and unhooked her bra with one hand, his other hand moving from her hip to the small of her back. The touch of his lips and fingers made her skin prickle already. They sank down on the bed together, where Andrew's lips found Amber's again. Soft and hot. Passionate and demanding.

In Amber's experience one-night stands were usually about instant gratification. She'd had several guys who cared exclusively about satisfying their own needs and didn't give the slightest crap about hers. Once a guy had kicked her out of his apartment right after the act.

But this night was different. Andrew was different. His hands and lips traveled over every inch of Amber's body like he wanted to get to know it, learn to understand it. It almost seemed like part of his satisfaction came from finding out about her wants and needs. He made all the nerves in her body light up like a firework explosion. The way Andrew made love to her was so intense and blissful, Amber kind of fell in love with him right there and then.

It took just a moment, though, for rationality to kick in and for her to realize how stupid that thought was. She barely even knew the guy. What she was feeling was just the usual sex rush, her body being flooded with oxytocin and endorphins. And that fluttering feeling in her stomach? That was not butterflies, but just a figment of her imagination, caused by the remains of alcohol in her system.

* * *

The first thing Amber saw when she blinkingly opened her eyes the next morning was a nipple. Andrew's nipple. Apparently she'd been sleeping with her face buried in Andrew's chest like it was a pillow, a pretty hard pillow actually.

"Hey, look who's finally waking up," he whispered, flashing a smile at her as she started to stir in his arms.

"You're still here?" she asked, sleepily, still unable to move.

"Yup. How could I have left when you were practically sleeping on me? Did you want me to leave?" he added with a sliver over insecurity in his voice.

"No. Nonono. Not at all." She rolled around and thus finally freed him from his pillow duties. "Last night was very nice, really," she assured him.

Suspiciously, Andrew lifted an eyebrow. "Are you making fun of me again?"

Amber chuckled. "No, I'm not." She snuggled close to him again, resting her face against the nook of his neck this time, where she could still faintly smell his cologne. She had no clue what brand it was, but she liked the smell. Andrew's hands gently stroked her back. She liked that too.

"In fact," she announced, "I'm beginning to realize I may have underappreciated "nice" my entire li-shit!" She jolted up. "What time is it?" Not even waiting for his reply, she kicked off the covers wrapped around her legs, climbed over Andrew and frantically started searching for her phone. Today was her first day at the new hospital. How could that not have been the first thing she thought of after waking up? Day one and she already let herself be distracted by some guy!

"Hey, relax. It's only 6:30 am." Andrew extended his arm to her, so she could check his wristwatch.

"Phew." Amber exhaled audibly and put her hand to her heart. It was pounding like crazy. "Still, I better get going," she said then. "I need to cut people open in less than two hours." She took a new bra from a drawer and a new pair of jeans from a cardboard box and started to get dressed.

"Whoa." Andrew was alarmed. "Cut people open? Guess that puts my theory to rest that you're starting an internship at Microsoft. Please tell me it's not some murderous hit man business you're involved in."

"No, it's an internship at a hospital, dummy. And I'm not starting it, I'm just transferring." She tried to get some order into her unruly hair, but ultimately she just put it up into a messy bun, using the hair tie on her wrist, her most trusted companion.

"What hospital is it?" he asked. Amber was surprised to hear a sudden hint of anticipation in his tone.

"Grey Sloan Memorial hospital."

"Grey Sloan? No way!" Andrew laughed. "That's where I'm working."

Amber stopped. "Wait, you're a doctor too?"

He nodded firmly. "Yes, I'm in the surgical program, third year, " he added.

"Me too! Well, first year obviously, but... we're practically colleagues now, right?" She chuckled, but then she paused, realizing something. "No wait, technically you're my boss." That made her laugh even more and Andrew couldn't help but join in.

* * *

Initially Amber had wanted to ask Andrew to leave. She was getting really nervous about her first day at Grey Sloan and wanted to be alone to mentally prepare or whatever. But finding out Andrew was a co-worker made her change her plan. Instead of kicking him out, she invited him to stay for breakfast - well, just coffee actually, because that was the only thing she had around.

"So how come you're transferring in the middle of the year?" Andrew asked later when they sat down with their coffee cups at the smaller one of the two tables in Amber's living room. The small one was her unofficial dining table since she needed the bigger one as a study desk. It was crammed with medical journals and books and folders. Since she lived alone she thought that arrangement would work best for her. She had not expected to have company on her second day in town already.

"That's kind of a long story," Amber sighed, taking a sip from her coffee mug. "One of the attendings at my old hospital in Council Bluffs, Dr. Harding, thought I wasn't challenged enough there. He said I would waste my potential if I stayed at that little county hospital. He suggested I apply for some bigger hospitals. At first I didn't want to, because part of the reason I had stayed in Council Bluffs was so I could take care of my family." She hesitated, contemplating how much she should tell Andrew about her messed up family. But she'd told him so much already, so what difference did it make? "Both my mom and my brother Aaron suffer from schizophrenia and I've been taking care of them since I was 17. And I didn't want to leave them. But they've been doing much better lately and I... I feel like they don't really want me around anymore." She laughed to deflect from the sheen of tears that started to form in her eyes.

"Hey, come on, I'm sure that's not true," Andrew said softly.

Amber fumbled with the sleeves of her Iowa University sweater and pulled them over her hands, shrugging uncertainly. "Whatever. Eventually I just figured leaving might not be such a bad idea. Dr. Harding made a few calls and as it turned out there was an opening for an intern at Grey Sloan. One of theirs had apparently dropped out recently-"

"She didn't drop out," Andrew corrected her harshly.

"Oh okay, sorry." Amber was taken aback by his sudden roughness. "Did you... uh know her well?"

Andrew nodded. "Her name is Sam. She was my girlfriend. And she didn't quit the program, she had to leave the country, because ICE was after her."

"Oh God... that's awful." Amber brought her hand to her mouth. To say she felt like an insensitive jerk was an understatement. "I'm really sorry, Andrew."

He shook his head. "No. It's okay. You couldn't have known. Besides, I'm over her. Or try to be," he corrected himself. "She's safe now and that's the only thing that counts." He emptied his coffee mug and changed the subject. "What about you? Are you nervous about today?"

"Insanely nervous," she conceded. "I'm at that point where I wish I had stayed in Iowa. In Council Bluffs I was the best of my class. But here I'm just a small fish in a big pond. What if everyone else is better than me? I'm pretty sure Chief Bailey only gave me the job, because she knows my brother Alex. She told me she was the one who'd trained him." It was not lost on her how absurd it was that having Alex Karev as a brother was suddenly opening doors for her. In her childhood he'd only been known as a trouble maker.

"Still dreading to meet him too?"

"Oh yeah, more than ever."

"How about we meet up tonight at the bar again so you can fill me in how it went with your brother? Then you can also tell me everything about your first day. And I can tell you about my first day at Grey Sloan, which was pretty crazy, if I dare say so myself."

Amber gave him a lopsided smile. "Sounds like a plan I could be into." She tried to sound casual and not show her excitement too obviously. But the truth was, she was really starting to like Andrew and the prospect of seeing his friendly face at Grey Sloan on a regular basis took some of the pent up anxiousness away already. But mostly she was happy he wanted to go out with her tonight. It wasn't exactly a date, she was aware of that. But still, it was something.

"And don't forget to take everything in and enjoy the day as much as you can. Don't let your fear ruin that for you."

"I'll try to do that, thanks." She finished he coffee. "I actually had an appointment with Chief Bailey yesterday to introduce myself. She explained some stuff and gave me my ID card. Wanna see?" She went to get her bag which she'd dropped on the floor beside her bed the night before. "The picture doesn't even suck, which I could not say about the one on my student's ID." She began to rummage in her bag. She always had a million things in there and it always took her ages to find anything. "Chief Bailey is nice, what do you think?"

Andrew let out a grunt that sounded like he had to stiff a laugh.

"What?" Amber stopped rummaging for a moment and shot Andrew a look.

"Nothing, just the way you keep saying Chief Bailey, it's funny."

"Why is it funny? She is the chief. What else am I supposed to call her?"

"Just Bailey. Or if you're talking to her face, Dr. Bailey. Or just Chief. I can tell you nobody ever calls her Chief Bailey. Your gonna sound like a suck-up if you do that."

"I was raised to have decent manners," she said unperturbed. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Nope." He regarded her with a cocky twinkle in his eyes, something Amber had not thought he was even capable of. "But don't come crying to me when the other kids steal your lunch money for being such a teacher's pet."

"Okay, why would you say that? I'm already nervous about being the new girl. This is not helping." She had found the ID and absentmindedly put it on the table.

"Guess I'm not such a boy scout after all, huh?"

"So this is payback for yesterday? Listen, it's just... I get mean when I'm drinking." She held out her hand to him as a peace offering. "I'm really sorry, okay?"

Andrew's accepted her hand and smirked. "Okay, forgiven." Unexpectedly he pulled her up and into a kiss. Then he drew back and brought his hands to her cheeks. With her face framed that way he looked straight into her eyes, long and intently, like he was taking a mental picture of her. He leaned in and his mouth brushed against hers once more, ever so lightly. It almost seemed like goodbye. But it wasn't. This was a beginning. At least that's what Amber was hoping it was.

As he let go, Andrew reached for the ID card on the table. "So this is it, huh?"

"Yup, my very own Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital surgeon ID card," Amber said proudly.

Andrew's studied it thoroughly, his fingers wiping over the smooth surface of the plastic card.

Then he stopped.

His head shot up. "Karev? Your last name is Karev?"

"Yeah? Wh-"

"So your brother Alex, the one who works at the hospital, is Alex Karev? You're Karev's sister?"

"Uh yeah. Why? Do you know him?" Amber frowned. His weird reaction confused her.

Andrew just stared at her with wide eyes, disbelief and shock written all over his face.

"Andrew?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

"Andrew? Are you alright?"

Andrew seemed completely stunned. He was looking at her like she'd just pulled the rug from under his feet.

"What? Yeah, sure." He shook his head, as if to clear his mind. "I'm fine. I'm just surprised, is all. You uh… you look nothing like your brother," he said.

"People always say I take after my mom."

"That's probably a good thing," Andrew joked. They both chuckled, but Andrew's laugh sounded hollow for some reason.

Amber wanted to ask him if he was working with Alex frequently and what kind of teacher he was. But just as she started to speak, Andrew cut her off. "Listen, I'm sorry, but I really need to get going. I don't wanna be late for work, you know." He grabbed his jacket and headed for the exit.

Amber's gaze followed him until the door closed behind him. Now it was her turn to be stunned. What had just happened? Why did it suddenly feel like Andrew was running from her?

* * *

Amber had always assumed Seattle was a city that was wet and gloomy 24/7. But it was a misconception that should be disproved quickly. As soon as she stepped outside that morning, she was welcomed by a bright sun that accompanied her all the way to the hospital. She could feel its heat on the crown of her head. There was not one cloud in the sky that could have dimmed the light. It was almost as if the sun had shown up to calm her nerves and relieve the tension that was building up inside of her. The ratio between excitement and anxiety about her new job was 30:70 at this point. New workplace, new co-workers, new bosses, new responsibilities – everything here was new and it made her nervous.

Another thing that made her nervous? The prospect of finally meeting Alex again. Today was the day, after all. Or maybe it wasn't? The hospital was big. Amber wondered how long she could go without running into her brother? Probably not very long, though.

At least she would see Andrew again before this day was done. The thought of him accomplished what the sun hadn't quite succeed at - it eased her up a little. It made her smile actually. She was so looking forward to meeting him at the bar after work and to getting to know him better.

His hasty departure this morning still gave her pause, though. Amber could see how it must have been somewhat of a shock to find out she was the sister of one of the attendings at the hospital, but Andrew's reaction had been way over the top. He seemed downright shellshocked. And then he just left, no proper goodbye whatsoever. The whole thing was weird, but Amber decided not to overthink it. He was probably just worried about being late for work, like he said.

The square in front of the hospital was buzzing with people who bought snacks and coffee from vendors with small carts. Others hurried straight towards the entrance. Since it was early in the morning they were probably all nurses, orderlies and most of all - surgeons. And Amber walked right among them. She was one of them now. She straightened up, accelerated her steps, aiming for a more confident appearance. As she listened to the quietly clattering sound of her shoes on the concrete, a small but proud smile flashed over her face. _She was one of them now._

Chief Bailey had told her where to find the intern locker room, but Amber still managed to get lost. She'd always sucked at remembering directions. And every freaking corridor in this hospital looked the same. In the end she had to ask a nurse for the way. It was embarrassing, but at least she got there.

There were several interns in the locker room, chatting with each other, while changing into scrubs. Nobody paid attention to Amber when she entered. Hesitating, she looked around. The locker room wasn't exactly spacious or homey. One line of narrow, gray lockers followed the other, in between were a few plain wooden benches for people to sit. But the room was bright and didn't smell like old socks, which was a definite improvement to the one at her old hospital.

Amber reached into the back pocket of her jeans and retrieved a note with names, which she'd gotten from Chief Bailey.

She approached a random group of interns. "Uhm… excuse me…" Heads turned towards her. "Hi, I uh I'm Amber." She left out her last name on purpose. They would find out soon enough who she was related to. She felt no need to advertise it. In fact, it was the last thing she wanted to do. "I'm the new intern and I was wondering-"

"Where to find an empty locker? There's an one right beside mine," a tall, dark-haired guy offered with a flirtatious grin, which grew even bigger as he looked her up and down. "I'm Vik, by the way," he said when he was done checking her out. Vik was attractive, but gave Amber a narcissistic vibe that turned her off right from the start.

"No. I mean, yeah, that too, but I-I… Chief Bailey added me to a group of interns and she wrote down the names for me." She looked down at the small piece of paper in her hands.

"Can I have a look?" A short blond guy leaned in to read the note. "Casey Parker, Dahlia Quadri... Yeah, that's what I thought. That's us. You're with us." He looked up and met Amber's eyes. "I'm Casey," he said, shaking her hand. Casey's handshake was firm, which fit his confident attitude.

"You're probably here to take Sam's place, aren't you?" a chubby girl with blonde hair asked. She didn't say it in a mean way, though. She was just curious.

Amber nodded. "Yeah. I'm really sorry about what happened to her."

"Yeah, we all are." She sighed sadly, but then gave Amber a warm smile. "I'm Taryn, by the way. I'm sure you'll find some empty lockers over there." She gestured towards a corner.

Amber thanked her, chose a locker, put her stuff in it and started to get changed.

Taryn began to feed her with helpful information. "We're starting the day with rounds. I assume that's how you did it at your old hospital as well? Afterwards each one of us will get assigned to a case."

"On whose service are we today?" Amber asked as she put on the light blue scrub shirt.

"We're on Dr. Wilson's service today. She's the chief resident. But only for another month or so. She's taking her boards soon and is probably going to be an ortho fellow."

"Speaking of boards," the guy named Casey said, "the intern exams are coming up as well. I'm using every spare minute to study."

Amber took her ID badge from her bag, looked at it, hesitated. _Amber Karev M.D._ At her old hospital she'd worn her ID proudly. Along with the scrubs and the white lab coat it was like a uniform. It made her feel capable and confident. But here? Here she would be nothing more but Alex Karev's little sister. Would people even take her seriously? She sighed quietly, then pinned the badge to her lab coat anyways. There was no point in trying to fool anyone.

"Is she nice? Dr. Wilson, I mean?" Amber asked the others.

"Oh yeah. She's pretty nice," Taryn replied. "She likes to act tough sometimes, but that's all it is - an act. You'll see, she's cool. Dr. Wilson and I are practically best friends."

Beside Taryn, a bearded guy with glasses snorted. "Best friends? In your dreams maybe."

Taryn elbowed him in the shoulder. "Shut up, Levi! We worked on the tiny livers together. That counts for something. Plus she invited me to her wedding."

"Wilson isn't even her real name anymore," Vik randomly threw in from behind, but nobody apart from Amber seemed to notice.

"We were all invited to her wedding," Levi pointed out to Taryn.

"Not you." Taryn shot him a smug look. "Did you forget you were only there, because I made you my plus one?"

Levi opened his mouth, but seemed unable to come up with a snarky comeback, so he shut his mouth again and just glared at her. Then he seemed to remember something. Triumphantly he carried on. "Well, if you're so tight with her, maybe you should stop calling her Wilson. That's not her name anymore."

"Jeez, I know that's not her name anymore. It's just gonna take some time to get used to it. Even Bailey still calls her Wilson and she's the chief of surgery."

Amber joined the group again. "So what is her new name then?" she asked confused. She did not intend to alienate the chief resident on her first day by using the wrong name.

Taryn and Levi both ignored her. "You're still not her best friend."

"Jeez, you really think I don't know that? It's called hyperbole, asshat."

A girl with a hijab, who had been quiet until now, shoved the squabblers aside and stepped in front of Amber. "Just ignore those two idiots." She extended her hand to Amber. "I'm Dahlia. Now about your question, as you may have picked up, Dr. Wilson got married recently. Her new name is…" Dahila trailed off as her eyes got caught by the ID card on Amber's lab coat. She reached for it to take a closer look. "...yours actually," she finished, her voice dropping in disbelief.

Her head flew up. "Your name is Karev? Does that mean you're related to the attending Dr. Karev? Alex Karev?"

Everybody's attention was suddenly focused on Amber. Even Levi and Taryn stopped fighting. They all looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

"He's my brother," Amber said flatly.

In the back Amber could hear an exaggerated sneezing sound. It sounded a lot like the word "nepotism" and came from Vik.

Amber hands clenched into fists. She would have loved to punch Vik in the face for that comment. But she knew it was best to ignore the guy. She took a deep breath, let the anger pass through her and forced her fingers to relax again.

"How come we didn't see you at the wedding?" Taryn asked.

"My brother and I aren't exactly close and I… wasn't invited." She said the last part as lightly as possible and made a grimace that was almost a grin. She did her best to pretend she didn't care, even though the disappointment settled in her stomach like a brick.

So she had a sister-in-law she didn't even know about. Well, technically she did know about her. Her mother had mentioned that Alex had come to visit her a while ago and that he'd brought his fianceé. Apparently they'd gotten married in the meantime. Once again Alex had excluded her from a high mark of his life. But it made sense. He'd never cared about being there for her big moments, why should he want her to be present for his?

"Oh. I'm sorry," Dahlia said, her eyes full of sympathy.

Amber shrugged. "It's no big deal, really."

The rest of them were still staring at her and Amber wasn't sure why, or what they were waiting for. Casey, who seemed to be the most responsible one of the group, was the first to snap out of it. With a loud slam that made Taryn jump, he shut door of his locker. "Alright people, let's get moving. We don't want to be late for rounds, do we?"

This brought the interns back on track. They grabbed their stuff, then scrambled towards the door. Amber stuck to their heels, glad not to be the center of attention anymore.

* * *

At first Jo didn't even notice the new intern. When she arrived on the general surgery floor, the interns were loitering in the hallway. Schmitt and Roy were slouching on a gurney that shouldn't even be there. It belonged to the ER. Someone had obviously forgotten to bring it back. The girls stood with their backs rested against the wall, looking bored.

"Stop loitering!" Jo demanded sternly when she approached. The interns followed her orders slowly and sluggishly, except for one of the girls who pushed herself off the wall and straightened up instantly. Long blonde hair, tamed by a hair tie, slender figure, a little taller than herself - this girl was definitely not one of her interns. With furrowed brows Jo studied her. She noticed that the girl did the same - without directly looking into her eyes, though. She seemed very nervous. Then it finally hit her. Bailey had mentioned in passing that a new intern had transferred to Grey Sloan, filling the place of Sam Bello. This had to be her.

"You're the new intern, aren't you?" Jo asked, just to make sure.

The girl nodded. "Yes."

"What's your name? Where are you from?"

"Amber."

Jo lifted her eyebrows, waiting for more. "I meant your full name."

"Amber…" She sighed, then added reluctantly, "Karev."

Jo's eyes went wide. "K-Karev? You.. you're…"

"She's your sister-in-law," Dahlia helped out.

Jo's mind was rotating. Her sister-in-law? Alex's sister was the new intern? How was that even possible? How did she not know about this? Did Alex?

She wanted answers to all those questions stat. But at the same time she did not want to interrogate Amber in front of the other interns.

"Can you… May I have a word with you, please?" She gestured around the corner and lead Amber a few feet down the hallway.

"You're Alex's sister? You're Amber?" Jo whispered urgently as soon as they were out of earshot. She still couldn't believe that she suddenly stood face to face with her sister-in-law.

"Yes."

Jo swallowed, let the confirmation sink in for a second. "Does Alex know you're here?"

"No."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"I didn't really think he'd care. Besides, he's gonna find out soon enough."

Frustrated Jo shook her head at Amber. "You people are unbelievable."

Yet, she couldn't hold her reluctance to talk to Alex against her, not entirely anyways. She knew Alex's background was complicated, but she'd never been able to comprehend why Alex refused to truly reconnect with his family. Visiting his mother had been a start. Jo had hoped he would finally open up about his siblings too, maybe even invite them to their wedding. But nothing happened. And after the disaster with Jimmy Evans, Jo knew better than to force Alex to reconnect with any more family members. The lack of communication between the Karevs was frustrating to her nonetheless. She was sure deep down they all still cared about each other, despite all the hardships they'd had to suffer through and pain they may have caused each other.

Amber's eyes darted down the hallway, like she was looking for an exit from this conversation. Then she looked back at. "Listen, I just came here for the job. I never thought I'd do my residency in a top-notch hospital, but then this offer came along and ultimately I couldn't turn it down. The surgical program is the only thing I care about right now, so can we just get back to work, please?"

As the young woman looked at her with pleading eyes, Jo's irritation evaporated and her features softened. This was Amber, her sister-in-law. She was really here. Jo could finally get to know her. Somehow it felt like everything was finally falling into place.

First she'd found out that her best friend from another life, Atticus Lincoln, had checked in at Grey Sloan as a surgeon. Then she dropped the minimal invasive surgery fellowship in Boston in favor of an orthopedic surgery fellowship, with Link as her supervisor. Then, only a week ago, Jo found out that she was pregnant. It was surprising news, to say the least. She and Alex were still getting used to the new reality, but they felt elated too. What if Amber's arrival was one more piece to make the puzzle whole?

"I'm Jo, by the way. I'm Alex's… Alex is my… " _God, how should she say this?_ "...husband." The last word came out tentatively, a near whisper.

"So I've heard. Guess my wedding invitation got lost in the mail?" Amber asked flippantly.

Jo drew in her breath. This wouldn't be a walk in the park, she'd suspected as much. She wished she'd been wrong about it, though. "Amber, I would have loved to have you there. But I didn't want to overstep, not when it's about Alex's family. I did that once and Alex got hurt because of it. I promised myself to never do that again. I know your-"

Amber cut her off mid-sentence. "Got it. Can we go back to work now?" She started to walk away.

"Amber?" Jo waited until Amber turned and met her eyes. "I just want you to know, I'm happy to finally meet you." She gave her a heartfelt smile and after a beat Amber lifted the corners of her mouth to smile back at Jo ever so slightly.

Absently, Jo's hand brushed over her belly. There was nothing to see yet, but that didn't change the fact that a baby was not just a possibility anymore. It was turning into something very real inside of her body. She felt a nervous flutter in her gut as she realized that anew. Just the same, everything felt a little bit more right in this very moment.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Looks like I have signed myself up for another multi-chapter story. They're always a huge commitment, so part of me thinks I'm crazy for doing that. But so many people were asking for it, so here you go, this was chapter 2. Let me know how you liked it. Happy New Year to all of you :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes: You guys, thank you so much for the nice reviews you left on my last chapter. They made me so happy. You're awesome. I love that there seems to be a variety of reasons why people are checking out this story. And YES I absolutely agree that Andrew doesn't get enough attention on the show. And there are people who call him their favorite character? I LOVE THAT! Alright, enough gushing. Here's the new chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it just as much. Have a great Sunday everyone :)**

* * *

 _Chapter 3_

"Boy Scout? Hey!"

Andrew recognized Amber's voice instantly when he heard her call him from him across the hallway.

He was sitting at the nurse's station, skimming through a medical journal, in front of him a half-eaten apple from the cafeteria. He'd opted for a healthy snack to-go instead of cake for dessert.

He raised his head, watched Amber come toward him with quick steps as if she couldn't wait to get to him. For a second he was actually happy to see her. All he could see was the cute girl from the bar. The girl who had met his gaze with curiosity and a tinge of apprehension as he'd entered Joe's bar last night. The girl who'd shared her sorrow with him as he'd shared his onion rings with her. The girl who liked to tease him with a stupid nickname. The girl with dark blue eyes and an entrancing smile. That smile was meant just for him right now. So how the hell could he not smile back at her?

It wasn't until she stood right in front of him that he remembered who she was, or rather, who her brother was. It hit him like a punch in the gut and wiped the smile from his face instantly.

"Hey," he said, trying to sound aloof, but not utterly unfriendly.

"Are you busy?" Amber asked as he started to browse the medical journal again.

Andrew glanced up at her, studied her for a long moment, his jaw set hard. The only thing he had to do was say, "Yes, I'm busy," and she would hopefully walk away and leave him alone. The conversation would be over before it had properly begun. The problem was, he was awfully bad at cold-shouldering someone he actually liked. Almost involuntarily his eyes softened. "No, I'm not busy."

"Good. I didn't want to disturb you. I was just glad to finally see a familiar face, that's why I wanted to come over and say hi."

"I take it you haven't met your brother yet?"

"Nope." Amber shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not even sure he still counts as a familiar face, to be honest." She plopped down on the chair next to him. "I did meet Alex's wife, though. Jo. Do you know her?"

"Yeah, I do. She's a resident too," Andrew said matter-of-factly, like she was just a random fifth year resident, not one whose story overlapped with his in a very particular way.

"Yeah, I'm on her service today. We just did an appendectomy together. She seems nice, so that's good." She sucked in her bottom lip, then started to blink rapidly. Something seemed to trouble her. When she spoke again, her voice sounded husky. "They didn't even invite me to their wedding, can you believe that?"

Despite himself, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder, rubbing it slightly with his thumb. "I'm really sorry."

"I don't even know why I care," she mused. "It's the second time he got married and he never cared for us to be part of his life in the last 15 years, so why would I expect things to be different now?"

"Hope can be a petty thing," Andrew commented.

Amber snorted at his platitude. "It sure can be." She moved her chair closer to this, so that their armrests met. Andrew couldn't help but notice the faint freckles on her nose.

"Anyways, I'm sorry I'm such a downer. I didn't mean to unload my problems onto you again."

"It's fine, really. Family can be difficult, I get it."

She nodded silently, the corners of her mouth twitching into a grateful smile. Looking into each other's eyes they let the silence linger for a bit. Amber was so close, Andrew thought he could count all those little freckles on her nose. Or do something entirely different. Inevitably his gaze wandered from her freckled nose to her lovely lips.

But no. No. This was not happening. He was level-headed enough not do something as stupid as kiss Karev's little sister out in the open, in the middle of the hospital. In fact, he had no intention of kissing Amber ever again. They'd spent one amazing night together, that's all. It wasn't like it meant anything to him.

Right now, she was still too close for comfort, though. Andrew gave his revolving chair a slight push to the right to bring some distance between them. He acted like he only did it to reach for his apple. "I almost forgot, I still have to finish dessert," he explained, conspicuously taking a huge bite.

While he ate, Amber's stomach started growling audibly. Andrew arched her eyebrows at her. Quickly she clapped her hands over her belly, as if that could mute the sound. "God, I'm so sorry."

"Did you forget to eat again?" Andrew chuckled quietly. He could tell she was massively embarrassed. Her face was as red as a lobster.

"I actually was on my way to the cafeteria to grab something to eat when I saw you."

"Then you should probably do that now," he suggested, amused.

"Yeah, you're probably right." She leapt to her feet. "But I'll see you tonight, right?"

She sounded excited. And he'd actually looked forward to meeting her at Joe's as well. After all, it had been his idea. But things were different now and he knew he needed to find a way to get out of that date - or whatever it was. "About that… I'm sorry Amber, but I don't think I can make it."

"Long day?"

"Uh yeah."

She nodded, understanding. "I'm probably gonna be too exhausted too after my first day. How about tomorrow?"

Clearly Amber did not take him cancelling their date as a hint that he was not interested at all. The look in her eyes was optimistic and hopeful as if she thought of it as merely a scheduling conflict.

And a conflict it was. One between Andrew's head and his heart.

His head told him to run and forget about this girl. Amber was Karev's sister and her relationship with her brother was extremely strained as it was. Getting involved with her would only make things more complicated. For her. And for himself as well. Andrew had absolutely zero desire to get sucked into issues that were none of his business. He'd made that mistake before and it hadn't ended well for him.

But it was his heart that always got him in trouble. And the truth was, he liked Amber a lot. He liked talking to her. He liked the fact that she confided in him as though he was someone she'd known and trusted for years.

Last night, after they'd slept with each other, Amber had huddled up against his body like taking shelter in his arms was the most natural thing in the world. He was surprised at this level of intimacy at first. But then, tentatively, he reciprocated her embrace, pulled her even closer, resting his chin on the top of her head. She fell asleep quickly, still holding on to him. Andrew lay awake a little longer, filled with such a deep feeling of affection like he hadn't felt for anyone since Sam left. Despite trying to, he had a hard time ignoring that feeling.

If he'd tell his sister Carina about his emotional turmoil, she would have an easy solution, for sure. After rolling her eyes and berating him for always getting attached to girls he barely even knew, she would tell him to just snap out of it and move on.

And that's what he planned to do. Snap out of it. Move on. How hard could it be, really? It was true, he barely knew this girl. From here on out, Amber Karev would be nothing more but a co-worker to him. All he had to do was cancel their date permanently.

So when Amber suggested to meet the next day, Andrew was determined to turn her down. He would tell her that he was not interested in seeing her outside the hospital anymore. It was the reasonable thing to do.

He took a breath, opened his mouth. But as he looked into her expectant blue eyes, all the reasonable words suddenly slipped away on and what he said instead sounded like, "Sure. Tomorrow is great."

* * *

Jo waited for Alex in front of OR 3. From the gallery she'd followed his surgery - the end of it anyways - just to hurtle downstairs as soon as he'd closed up the femur fracture he'd been fixing. She did not want to miss him. What she had to tell him couldn't wait.

Minutes passed. Jo started picking at her cuticles, willing her husband to hurry up already. Of course she knew Alex had to scrub out first. However, knowing that did nothing to curb her impatience.

Finally the door opened. Alex was still wearing his scrub cap, but the bloody gloves and the surgical gown were gone.

"Hey." As soon as he saw her, his face lit up. "Are you waiting for me?" He drew her close for a soft kiss. Jo was too tense to kiss him back, though. She was about to give her husband news that would blow his mind. This was so not the time for romance.

Alex frowned, immediately sensing that something was wrong. "What's going on?"

Jo freed herself from his embrace. "Amber is here," she said, not bothering with any preamble.

"What?"

"Amber is here. Your sister is here."

"In Seattle? What? Why? Is she sick? Is something wrong with Aaron or Mom?" The questions bubbled out of his mouth and with every word his voice sounded more worried. Like always, Alex assumed the worst when there was news about his family. Jo knew it was a habit established over years of hardships and misery. Still, his wariness made her sad. She wished he could just be happy about the news that his sister had come to town.

"No, it's nothing like that," Jo reassured him quickly. "She's here as a surgeon. She's the new intern."

"She what?" Alex asked dumbfounded.

"Alex, please tell me you did know that your sister is surgeon."

"No. I mean, yes, I did know that. Kinda. Mom told me on the phone once."

Contrary to her belief, that answer did not make Jo feel better about the whole situation. "If you knew that, why the hell did you never reach out to her? You have the same job, the same passion for medicine. Why was that not something that made you want to reconnect with your sister?"

"Because… Goddamnit, I abandoned her when she was 10 years old," he said heatedly. "I didn't think she'd ever want anything to do with me again."

Jo raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. The first thing she asked me, when I told her we're married, was if her invitation had gotten lost in the mail."

With a swift hand motion he wiped the scrub cap from his head and sighed. "Crap."

"Yeah, crap," Jo agreed drily.

"Where is she now?" Jo noticed a hint of anticipation in Alex's voice, although he tried to sound neutral.

"I have no idea." Jo shrugged her shoulders as they headed for the elevator. "I wanted her to wait here with me, but she bailed on me after we'd finished the appendectomy."

"How is she even here?" Alex wondered. "Mom said she was doing her residency in a hospital in Iowa."

Jo pushed the call button for the elevator. "Apparently she transferred. You can ask her about the details when we find her."

* * *

It happened in the cafeteria of all places.

Amber had pictured the moment a hundred times over the last 15 years, but a crowded cafeteria had never been part of it. She'd thought Alex might turn up at the park one day. Or maybe pick her up from St. Xavier. Mostly though, she'd envisioned she'd answer the door one day and he would just stand on the other side of the threshold, totally unexpected.

When she was little she always thought she would then jump right into her big brother's arms and hug him long and tight to make up for lost time. And he would cradle her head in his hands and they'd both laugh of pure happiness.

When she was a teenager resentment started to harden her heart and her reunion fantasy changed accordingly. When she envisioned Alex standing on the threshold now, she thought she would make a real scene, yell at him, give him a piece of her mind, tell him how much he'd hurt her and Aaron and Mom.

When she hit her twenties, anger gave way to indifference. She thought she would shut the door right in his face if he ever turned up again. No hugs, no scene, nothing. She would just walk away silently and leave him standing there, withering in the entryway.

What would it be today?

Amber was sitting alone, eating a salad, when he found her. She'd looked for the other interns, but the only one she could spot was Vik and he was pretty much the last person she wanted to eat lunch with. So when he raised his hand and beckoned her to come over, she pretended not to see him.

Amber wasn't sure if she would have recognized Alex immediately, if Jo hadn't been by his side as he entered the cafeteria. The same was probably true for him, since his glance slipped past her, until Jo took his arm, steering him in the direction of her table.

He was much older, and somehow shorter than she remembered him. Then again, she was not a bony ten year old girl anymore, looking up to her big brother like he was some kind of hero. For as long as Amber could remember, Alex was the only person who could put the shambles of their messy family back together when it broke. And it used to break a lot.

Amber stood up as Alex stopped in front of her. She felt like the entire cafeteria had to be watching them. But of course they weren't. To them they were just two doctors talking to each other during their break. What was supposed to be interesting about that?

"Amber? I…" Alex spoke first, but clearly he didn't know what to say any more than she did. He shook his head incredulously, then tried again. "How…? What are you doing here?"

Yeah, what was she doing here actually? Unexpectedly, that question had struck a chord. This was far from what she'd imagined for their reunion. He'd never actually showed up at her door, never came home. This was his territory, not hers. Suddenly she saw herself the way he had to see her. As an intruder in his carefully protected life. The obnoxious little sister, who was worming her way back into his life, unasked. What the hell had she been thinking, taking this job?

"Look, I know how this looks, but I didn't follow you here. I didn't come here because of you. I don't have any agenda whatsoever. I only came here to work, I swear."

"No, that's not what I-"

She didn't let him finish. "I don't want anything from you. Except… except to learn from you as a surgeon, if… you'll let me." She lifted her right hand for a handshake.

Tentatively he took it.

"Here's to a successful cooperation, Dr. Karev," she said formally. It was like she was talking to a business partner, not a brother. Even she could tell how stilted she sounded. Her face heated up in shame.

She did not give him a chance to react, nor herself one to further embarrass herself. In one smooth movement she withdrew her hand, turned to take her tray from the table and walked off. Just a doctor who'd had lunch in the cafeteria. She was not nearly done with her salad, but she didn't care. She shoved the tray into a trolley next to the door and left.

On her way to the ladies' room she almost started crying. As soon as she had locked herself into a stall she broke down crying for good. She hadn't thought that seeing her brother again would actually overwhelm her like this. She'd thought she would be in control of her emotions. Or at least that's what she'd hoped. But she wasn't in control, not even close. In addition she felt stupid and awkward for acting the way she'd just done.

But how was she supposed to talk to a brother she hadn't seen in over 15 years? A brother she didn't know anymore? Letting the reality of that sink in made Amber cry even harder. She sank down on the toilet lid and doubled over. Everything inside of her constricted like she was in actual pain.

When Amber was little, Alex used to blow soft kisses on her scraped knees, before putting a band-aid on them. Miraculously, it made the pain go away faster every single time. But there was no remedy for the kind of pain Amber was feeling in this moment. It was ingrained too deeply. And the very person who had been so good at easing her pain in the past was the source of it now.

Amber cried for a while, but then she forced herself to pull it together. She was an adult, not a little girl anymore. Since her legs were wobbly, she lurched to the sinks lined on the opposite wall to wipe her eyes with paper towels from the dispenser.

Looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, her face took on an expression of sudden determination. She was a surgeon. Alex was a surgeon. Teacher and student. Attending and intern. Maybe that was all they were now. All they would ever be. But she would make this work. She would rise above. She would rise above her stupid feelings. She would treat Alex like any other attending and push her feelings into a deep dark vault inside of her heart, where she'd lock them away indefinitely.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes: I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm finally back with a new chapter. This chapter took a lot of rewriting, which is the primary reason for the delay, but I'm finally okay with the result. I hope you'll like it! As always, reviews and comments with you thoughts are greatly appreciated :)**

* * *

 _Chapter 4_

In his first year of residency, back when the hospital's name was still Seattle Grace Hospital, Alex had this patient, Annie Connors, who had a giant tumor growing out of the side of her abdomen. She'd watched it grow for over a year, before her mother finally brought her to the hospital. The tumor had started to press down so hard on her diaphragm, Annie had trouble breathing. It was an excessive fear of hospitals that made Annie downplay the severity of her situation for so long. Not dealing with her tumor was easier than facing her biggest fear - until the pain got worse than the fear itself. In the end it was still too late for Annie. She died during surgery, bleeding out on the table because of a burst vessel.

Back then Alex couldn't understand how Annie could let it get this far. He couldn't understand how someone could ignore a problem to the point where it was virtually impossible to fix it. But looking back now, he realized he might have done the exact same thing with his sister. He'd been avoiding her - his entire family actually - for over fifteen years. He had a multitude of reasons, some of which definitely related to fear. First it was fear of being in over his head with a medical residency and a family who depended on him indefinitely. He knew he couldn't do both. Selfishly he chose his education, his career. And _out of sight out of mind_ worked perfectly for him. After a while he barely even wondered if the little sister he'd left back in his old hometown might be missing him.

Later it was probably fear of rejection. He had spent more years apart from Amber than he'd spent with her. How could he have made that up to her? What could he have done? Turn up at her door one day like a surprise package and act like he still had any right at all to want to be part of her life? What could he have said to her when not even Aaron's attack was enough to make him stay with her, not even for a day?

But now everything was different. Amber was here, in Seattle, working at his hospital of all places. Whether it was the universe, fate or simply a crazy coincidence - something had brought them back together. And Alex would be damned if he didn't try his hardest to repair the bond he'd severed all those years ago. He could only hope it wasn't too late to fix things, like it had been for Annie.

Alex did not intend to waste any time, so he arranged for Amber to be assigned to his service on her second day at Grey Sloan.

When she appeared on the peds floor and found him standing at the nurse's station, she came towards him like a furious miniature tornado. She was quite obviously upset about something.

It felt unreal to see her in scrubs and a lab coat. Then again, everything about seeing her felt unreal, starting with the fact that she was a grown up woman now and not a kid anymore. She used to run around the house with a cheap purple magic wand, pretending to cast spells over anything and anyone. Now she was certified to cut people open with a scalpel. There was such an enormous contrast between those two pictures, Alex's mind had a hard time bringing them together.

"You requested me for today, didn't you?" Amber asked outright as she came to a halt in front of him. She was no fool. He had suspected it wouldn't take her long to figure out his ruse. Her feisty attitude left him unfazed, though.

"I did," Alex conceded frankly. She opened her mouth, clearly to throw in an objection, but he was prepared for that. "You said you wanted to learn from me. So that's what you're gonna do today."

She furrowed her brows at him and folded her arms in front of her chest. Alex had to suppress a laugh when he saw that reaction. She looked exactly like she had as a little girl upon realizing she had been outsmarted by her big brother. Pediatrics was one of the most interesting and most prestigious surgical fields. It would be stupid to miss a chance to work here and Amber knew that.

She did not let him off the hook that easily, though. "Okay, but this is a one-time thing. You can never do that again. I don't want special treatment just because I'm your sister. I already got accused of nepotism yesterday. Becoming a target for the other interns is the last thing I want."

Alex's eyes darkened. "Who accused you of nepotism?"

Amber waved her hand dismissively. "It's none of your business. Besides, it's nothing I can't handle myself."

"Fine," he muttered.

They walked down the corridor side by side, but in silence. It didn't surprise Alex that Amber was guarded, though. He knew if he wanted to reconnect he had to make the first step and initiate a conversation.

"So… uhm… how have you been doing? And how's Aaron?" Alex asked carefully.

She met his glance, a disdainful spark in her eyes. He fully expected her to retort something snarky or sarcastic. He would have deserved it, too. He was asking questions that came about a decade and a half too late, he was well aware of that. But he had to start somewhere.

"Aaron's good," she said then, her face still not exactly friendly, but more neutral. "He's got a steady job for two years now. It's at a local courier company. He doesn't get to drive all across the country anymore, like when he had that job at the moving company, but he still gets to drive and he's happy with that. He's taking his meds and seeing a therapist once a week."

"That's good."

For whatever reason, that reply earned him another look of disdain. Amber's mouth twisted like she wanted to say something, but then she pressed her lips together and nodded, smiling microscopically. "Yeah, no, it is good. Very good actually."

Even though he would have liked an explanation for her sudden anger when he asked about Aaron, Alex thought it was probably best to let it go. Instead he brought the conversation back to her. "And you? How have you been doing?"

"Me? I've been doing well too. I went to college, then med school. The usual, you know? Now I'm here. Everything is great. And you and Jo?" she added, turning the question around. "Are you happy?"

Alex studied his sister from the side, wondering if that question was a product of genuine interest in his life or if she'd just changed the subject to avoid talking about herself. Did the reason really matter, though? They were having an actual conversation and that was so much more than he'd expected to get from her. "Yeah. We are very happy," he answered truthfully. "Jo's great. She's the best thing that could have happened to me." For a second he considered telling his sister about Jo's pregnancy, but it didn't seem like the right place nor time for that.

"Great. I'm happy for you."

Again, Alex was left wondering whether her remark was honest or a mere pleasantry. It made him realize that he didn't know his sister at all. When she was a kid he'd always known how to read her tone face. He used to know his sister inside and out, but now she was a mystery to him.

"So are you ever gonna tell me what we're doing today?" she asked impatiently.

"You'll find out in a minute," Alex said, as he abruptly stopped in front of a patient room. He'd almost missed the right door because of his pondering. It was time he put his focus back on the job.

He handed Amber the tablet he had carried with him. "You're gonna need this. You're doing the patient presentation." The chart she needed was already open, so she could read up on the patient.

"The patient is a girl named Cybil Talbot, but she hates that name. Everybody just calls her Billie," he explained, while she swiped over the screen, taking in the most important information.

Eventually she raised her head. "Short bowel syndrome? So we're doing a resection today?"

"Exactly. This is Billie's third resection, actually." He pushed down the door handle. "You ready?"

As soon as they entered the patient's room they were greeted by an excited voice. "Hey Dr. Alex," Billie said, beaming at him like she'd swallowed the freaking sun. If he didn't know it, Alex would never have guessed that this girl was about to have a major surgery. She didn't seem worried at all. Then again, she'd been to the hospital nine times in the last five years and had already had three major surgeries. As sad of a thought as it was, she was probably getting used to the process at this point.

"Hi Billie," Alex said. "You had a good night?" The question was directed at Billie as well as Mrs. Talbot, who was sitting in a chair by her daughter's bed.

The girl shrugged. "It was alright."

"She had a quiet night," Billie's mother confirmed. "But she keeps asking me if she'll be able to eat solid food again after the surgery." Lovingly she stroke her daughter's pitch-black hair. "She really misses food."

"I miss burgers," Billie specified. "And fries. And pizza. And cookies."

"And spinach and broccoli and green beans, am I right?" Alex said with a grin.

Billie rolled her eyes. "Very funny. Just tell me I can eat like a normal person after the surgery. Please?" She glanced up at him with pleading eyes.

"Well, you're gonna have to wait a few weeks and we have to take it step by step, but eventually solid food shouldn't be a problem anymore."

"Yay!" Billie was so happy about the news, she held out her balled fist for Alex. He humored her and gave her a fist bump. Then Billie turned to Amber, demanding a fist bump from her as well, although she didn't know her yet.

Alex was glad Billie was feeling so well today. Her face had a slightly yellow complexion, a sign of jaundice, caused by her bad liver. But other than that she seemed fine. She had the blanket pulled up to her chest, but she didn't seem to be cold. Alex could see two small feet, covered in Winnie the Pooh socks, peek out on either side of the bed. Her current condition was treacherous, though. The bowel resection that was planned for today was absolutely imperative. And it probably wouldn't be her last surgery either.

He addressed his sister. "Amber, would you present the patient?"

Amber shot him a stern look. "It's Dr. Karev."

Alex sighed. "Fine. Dr. Karev, would you present the patient, please?"

Confused Billie's gaze bounced from Amber to Alex and back to Amber again. "You're Dr. Karev? That's Dr. Alex's name. Is he your brother?"

"Yeah, he is," Amber confirmed. "My waaay older brother."

The little girl snickered at the way Amber drew out the word, while Alex grunted disapprovingly. Was it really necessary to highlight the age difference?

"Just read the chart, will you?" he demanded again, unable to hide his irritation.

It made Billie cackle even more. Amber on the other hand bit her lip to compose herself so she could start recounting the key data from the tablet. Billie had been in and out the hospital 9 times in the last few years. Today they were doing a bowel resection, but eventually she would need an intestine transplant as well as a liver transplant.

"I like your socks, by the way," Amber added with a wink as she finished.

"Really?" Billie seemed baffled. "My friends say I'm way too old to still be into Winnie the Pooh. I'm nine and they say Winnie the Pooh is for babies."

"Are you kidding? You can never be too old for Winnie the Pooh. I'm an adult and I love Winnie the Pooh. Tigger was always my favorite."

Billie's face lit up. "Mine too." She turned to Alex. "What about you, Dr. Alex?"

Amber jumped in, before he could say anything. "Oh Alex was always into piglet. You adored him, right Alex?"

Alex rolled his eyes, but decided to humor them anyways. "Uh yeah, sure. I've always been a big fan of that little pink guy."

Both Billie and Amber exploded with laughter.

"Anyways, your friends know nothing. Winnie the Pooh is awesome."

Billie was still wary. "But you wouldn't wear Winnie the Pooh socks now, would you?"

"Sure I would."

Billie narrowed her eyes at her. "I don't believe you."

Alex thought his sister would realize that she'd taken her Winnie the Pooh enthusiasm too far and backpedal. But she didn't. "Fine," Amber said confidently. "Next time you see me, I'll be wearing Winnie the Pooh socks."

She held her hand out to Billie, who shook it solemnly. "Deal."

"Piglet, seriously?" Alex asked when they left Billie's room.

"What do you want? We made a sick little girl laugh. Wasn't that worth it? I mean, if you're more of an Eeorye or Rabbit guy, you could have just said it."

"Shut up! At least I am not the one who has to run around in Winnie the Pooh socks from now on."

"I'm sure she won't remember that. She has other things to worry about right now."

"You clearly don't know Billie. Little girls can be a real pain in the ass," he added with a smirk.

Amber, knowing exactly that he was not talking about Billie anymore, regarded him with a reluctant half-grin. "Please, you and I both know I was low maintenance."

With her long blonde hair and deep blue eyes she looked so much like their mother, but the lopsided grin she gave him now mirrored his own. In that moment it was almost as though they were just normal, bickering siblings. "You really think so? I remember that differently."

Amber shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever. I need to book an OR and prep Billie for surgery."

As she started to walk away, Alex reached for her arm. "Hey kid," he said, "what do you say, we meet after work today and find out who's right? I'd love to catch up with you."

He could tell the exact moment she closed off again. Her eyes became cold, her lips a thin dismissive line. Then she shook off his hand. "I already have plans for tonight," she said, digging her hands deep into the pockets of her lab coat. "And I'm not a kid anymore."

* * *

Amber was feeling elated when she left the hospital that evening. The primary reason for her positive state of mind was the fact that she was meeting Andrew at the bar. But other than that she was proud of herself, because she'd managed to work a whole day on Alex's service while keeping a relatively chill attitude. No accusations - not with words anyways, no yelling, no running this time either. She'd held a normal conversation with him and they'd worked well together in the OR. Billie's surgery had been a complete success. As surgeons she and Alex made a surprisingly good team. As long as she left her emotions out if it and as long as it didn't concern anything but their work at the hospital, she should be able to deal with her brother just fine.

At the bar, Amber scanned the room thoroughly for any trace of Andrew. Perhaps he was already there, waiting for her. She saw a few familiar faces. Alex's wife was sitting at a table in the corner with a handsome blond man. He had to be a doctor too. Amber indistinctly remembered seeing him at the hospital. In the area beside the entrance her fellow interns Levi, Taryn and Dahlia were playing darts. They beckoned her to come over. She waved at them, but didn't follow their invitation.

Once she was sure Andrew wasn't there yet, she took a seat at the bar. The sound of the chiming doorbell gave Amber a sense of déjà vu. Every time she heard it, she craned her neck in eager anticipation. Every time her wide smile was met with indifference or a frown by some stranger. But she wanted to welcome Andrew with a happy face this time. The last time he'd seen her at this bar she'd been nervous and apprehensive. Tonight was her chance to rectify that first impression.

She waited ten minutes, then twenty. At that point she ordered a beer, because the bartender kept shooting angry glances in her direction for occupying a seat at the bar, without ordering a drink. After half an hour she foolishly still believed Andrew was just running late. After 45 minutes she gulped down the last of her beer, unsure what to do next.

It occurred to her that she and Andrew had never exchanged their phone numbers. Why hadn't she thought of that? She had no way of contacting him. No way of asking him what had happened. But she already knew what had happened, didn't she? Andrew had stood her up. There was no point in sugarcoating it.

He'd cancelled yesterday's date. That should have been a hint. But she had not seen it. Or rather, had not want to see it. What she saw was the way he held her gaze when their eyes met as they were sitting at the nurse's station. The way he leaned in, like he was toying with the idea of kissing her again. When he ultimately backed away, she thought it was because they were at the hospital. But now she knew she was wrong. All this time he must have been messing with her. Or perhaps he was too much of a coward to tell it to her face that he was not interested. Either way, this had never been more for him than a random late-night conversation with a follow-up one-night, she realized that now.

She didn't know what was worse, the humiliation of being stood up in a bar in a strange city, like some pathetic loser. Or the sadness, because she genuinely liked Andrew and it hurt that the feeling apparently wasn't mutual. But it didn't really matter in the end. She didn't plan on letting either emotion settle.

The guy had stood her up, so what? It wasn't the first time, probably wouldn't be the last. She'd get over it. She always did.

That's what she told herself anyways. But when she paid her beer and headed home, her heart was felt heavy all the same.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

Lazily, Amber strolled through the aisles of Target's clothing deparment, randomly pulling out a shirt here and a dress there, without taking a proper look at the items before putting them back on the rails. As tempting as it was to treat herself to a new top or dress, she had not come here to buy clothes. She was here to shop for household essentials for her new apartment, practical things like a broom, cleansers, a bath mat and kitchen utensils.

Most of all though, she had to seriously stock up on groceries. She'd been in Seattle for a week now and her fridge was still empty. Until now she'd basically been living off cheap takeout food and whatever the hospital cafeteria had to offer. The only food she had at home was a box of Super Bran cereal and coffee, if she could even call that food.

Coffee was her life blood, though. She wouldn't know what to do without the coffee maker on the counter in her tiny kitchen that provided her with her favorite fuel at any time of day. The coffee maker had been a farewell present from her mother who was well aware of her fondness for coffee. It was touching actually, how perceptive Helen was these days when it came to her daughter's habits and preferences. Five years ago Amber never would have thought that was even possible. Five years ago she was the one who'd taken care of her mother. And her brother. And the house as well.

Perhaps that was the reason why she'd been living like a frivolous college girl this past week. For the first time since she was 16, she was accountable only to herself. She took her job seriously, but other than that she didn't take anything seriously lately. It wasn't just the food situation that was dire, she still hadn't unpacked her stuff either. The moving boxes were still spread all around the living-/bedroom of her plain apartment. She didn't care. It wasn't like she had to worry about any visitors judging her for her new laissez faire lifestyle and her chaos. She didn't know anyone in this city well enough to want to invite over.

Except there was one person she had invited to her place. And that person was still occupying space in her mind.

It had been four days since Andrew had stood Amber up at the Emerald City Bar. She hadn't seen him at the hospital since then. She told herself again and again that she didn't care anyways. That she was over him - or that there was actually nothing to get over, because there never was anything to begin with. What she'd had with him was just a fling, and a very short one at that.

However, when she thought back to their conversation at the bar, when she remembered the way he looked at her and how irresistibly charming his smile was, a wave of sadness swept over her every single time. Whether she liked to admit it or not, she was still hurt and disappointed that he hadn't showed up.

Amber was about to move on from the clothing department empty-handed, when she passed a bargain bin with colorful socks. They featured pop culture characters like Snoopy and Hello Kitty. At the top of the pile there was a pair depicting Winnie the Pooh of all things. A smile tugged at Amber's lips as she thought of the little girl in the pediatric ward and the deal she'd made with her - the deal she'd broken. Alex had been right, Billie had not cut her any slack for showing up with regular socks the other day instead of Winnie the Pooh ones like she'd promised. In the eyes of her young patient Amber was a chicken now. She took the pair from the pile, scrutinizing the embroidered Winnie the Pooh characters. With these socks she could rectify Billie's image of her. Gingerly she pulled at the elastic cotton fabric, then laughed quietly, shaking her head at herself. It was rather silly to buy them just so she could prove a point to a child. On the other hand, the socks were pretty cheap and she could make one of her patients happy by wearing them. It was not much of a quandary. Of course she would buy them.

Still lost in thought, Amber turned the corner of an aisle only to be almost run over by another customer. Violently he bumped against her left shoulder, knocking the socks out of her hand. He seemed to be in such a hurry he didn't care what or who was in his way.

"Watch it!" Amber hissed, aggravated, as she crouched down to pick up the socks.

The customer was quick to do the same, a barrage of apologies tumbling from his mouth. "God, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you. I didn't mean to… I'm really sorry."

She reached for the socks, just a second before he did, so that his hand ended up on top of hers. Amber stared at that hand, unblinking, unmoving. The hand looked sturdy, but elegant and dexterous at the same time. _Like a surgeon's,_ Amber thought. Then it hit her. She knew this particular hand. It was a hand that had caressed her body only a few days ago.

A chill went through Amber's body as she realized who she'd collided with. The department store speedster was none other than Andrew DeLuca. She felt his eyes on her face and knew he'd recognized her too. Leaving the pair of socks behind, she pulled her hand away from under his so quickly, as if she had gotten burned by his touch. Avoiding his gaze, she rose to her feet. Again, he followed suit, only she could tell he did not take his eyes from her for a second.

"Hey," he said quietly, once they were both standing.

Amber forced herself to meet his gaze. "Hey."

He fumbled with the socks he'd picked up for her, studying the pattern. "Winnie the Pooh?" he asked with an amused smile.

"They're for a patient," Amber explained, embarrassed that he'd caught her with socks that featured characters from a Disney movie.

Andrew's forehead creased in confusion. "You're buying socks for a patient?"

"No. They are because of a patient," she clarified ponderously. "I mean, I'm buying them because of a patient. It's a bet of sorts."

"Gotcha." He held them out to her.

She took them, surreptitiously gritting her teeth. She was mad at herself for being ashamed about the socks. She was buying Winnie the Pooh socks, so what? He was the one who should feel ashamed for skipping out on her.

"You didn't show up the other day," she said, matter-of-factly, careful not to let it show how much his behavior had hurt her.

The look in his eyes was rueful. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

She waited a beat for him to say more, but apparently he did not intend to elaborate or give her a reason for his absence.

Anger bristled through Amber like hot lava. She was not just angry at Andrew, though. She was angry at herself for having been fooled so easily. She'd thought he was a decent guy. She'd actually thought he cared about her. How could she have been so wrong? "So that's it? You have nothing more to say to me than 'I'm sorry about that'?" she asked heatedly. "Do you know you could have just told me you're not interested? I would have understood that. But the way you treated me was just... an asshole move. Screw you!"

She wanted to push past him, but her held her back, putting both his arms on her shoulders. "Amber, wait. Please I…" She made an attempt to shake him off, but stopped as she heard his pleading tone. "It's… I wanted to come, I swear, but I… I…" The words petered out and he released her. He stepped back, his glance utterly resigned.

"You what, Andrew?" she prompted, instead of walking away immediately. She wanted to give him one more chance to explain.

"I… I care about you Amber, I do, but…" He sighed, the struggle etched in his features. "It's complicated."

"What is complicated?" she asked, impatient, but not harsh. "Is it Sam? Is it because you're not over her?"

"No!" Emphatically he shook his head. "No, it has nothing to do with Sam."

"Then what is it? Is it because of the job? Because we work together and you're my superior?" Again, he shook his head. "Is it Alex?" At that point Andrew averted his eyes, scanning the aisle behind her. It was just a brief breach in their eye contact, but it didn't go unnoticed. "You think my brother will cause us trouble? Why? Because he's our boss? You don't have to worry about that. He started dating his wife when she was an intern, he is the last one who gets to judge us."

"It's not that."

"Then what-"

"I can't…. I-I need to go… I'm sorry. About everything."

He took off, his steps so fast he was nearly running. Amber thought about going after him, but then she didn't. There was no point. She would never get a proper explanation from him. Still her confused eyes followed him until he reached the part of the hallway where it turned left and he disappeared around the bend.

* * *

After her encounter with Andrew at Target, Amber knew she should just move on. But for some reason she couldn't let it go. She justified it with her inherent curiosity. As a surgeon she came across many patients with strange symptoms. A diagnosis was not always easily achieved. Sometimes she had to dig deep, sometimes patients were like a riddle she had to solve. Thinking of it that way, she could almost convince herself that Andrew was just another riddle now. She needed to know what was going on with him, even more so if his weird behavior had anything to do with her brother.

Alex was her only lead. If she couldn't get Andrew to talk, she had to try her brother.

The next day Amber was on Alex's service again. She hoped she would get a chance to talk to him about Andrew at work. Luckily, the perfect opportunity came much sooner than she'd thought. When she set foot on the hospital grounds that morning, her brother and his wife were walking only ten feet ahead of her, heading for the entrance just like she was.

It looked like they were fooling around or teasing each other. Alex said something, then laughed. Jo playfully pushed him away only for him to put his arm around her shoulder and pull her close again. She chuckled, then rested her head against his shoulder.

The scene was somewhat baffling to watch. Amber had never seen her brother act so carefree with a girl. Then again, he'd never brought girls home when he had still lived with his family. Amber had a hazy memory of a pretty blond girl that used to hang around the house when she was very little, but that was the only one of Alex's girlfriends she remembered at all. He seemed to be completely at ease with Jo, which made sense, considering he'd married her.

Amber accelerated her pace which made her bag slip down her shoulder. "Alex?" she said as she passed him and Jo. "I need to ask you something."

They stopped as she appeared in front of them with her bag dangling from her arm. Her brother's face lit up. He was clearly happy to see her. However, if he thought she was approaching him for a casual reason, he was sorely wrong. The only reason she initiated a conversation was to find out if he had anything to do with Andrew's weird behavior.

"What's going on?"

"What happened between you and Andrew?"

"Wha-" The question seemed to throw him momentarily. His eyes widened and Amber thought she saw him wince. For the fraction of a second only, he seemed thoroughly uncomfortable. But then his expression changed to bewilderment. He blinked at her. "Andrew? What Andrew?"

"DeLuca. Andrew DeLuca. I'm wondering if you had an argument with him or something."

He answered her question with more questions. "What do you have to do with DeLuca? How do you know him?"

She rolled her eyes. She did not have any desire to explain her love life to her estranged brother, but apparently he needed some context. "I met him when I first came here and I… we got along really well-"

"Wait, you and DeLuca are dating?"

"No. We're not dating." Amber was quick to clear up that misunderstanding. "But I do like him," she conceded somewhat sheepishly. Jo cast an encouraging smile at her that made her feel self-conscious. She'd definitely shared too much information. "Anyways, all of a sudden he started avoiding me and I don't know why. His reaction when he found out I'm a Karev was kinda weird, though, so I figured maybe he has a problem with you? You're his boss after all."

"What's your point here, Amber?" Alex sounded both irritated and alarmed.

"I don't know, maybe you're particularly hard on him and he hates you? Maybe you had a conflict over a patient? God, I don't know Alex, I'm just trying to make sense of it."

"No, we didn't have any conflict over a patient and I treat him just like any other resident."

"So there was nothing unusual going on between you two? Ever?"

Alex looked at her for a long moment. Beside him, Jo who had let go of his arm, gave him an intense look Amber was unable to read.

"No. There was nothing," Alex said eventually.

"Oh. Okay." Amber rubbed her forehead. "So that's that then." She hung her head, a terrible sadness filling her up to the brim as she let the information sink in. Andrew just wasn't into her. She didn't know why he couldn't just say that to her face and kept sending her mixed signals, but there was no other explanation. Unless...

"Alex?" She looked up at him. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you? I know we're not close anymore, but you wouldn't lie to me, not about something important, right?" Suddenly she was the little girl again whose entire faith lay with her big brother.

Almost imperceptibly Alex sucked in his lower lip, only to curl his mouth into a reassuring smile the next moment. There was, however, something troubling in his eyes Amber couldn't help but notice. But he brushed it away with the words he said next. "Of course I wouldn't lie to you, kid."

Amber was relieved. Though Alex had let her down in every possible way, she knew she could rely on his honesty. Alex was a lot of things, but he was not a liar. She refrained from telling him to stop using that outdated term of endearment and just gave him a grateful nod. She could even bring herself to smile back at him. "Okay. See you on the peds floor."

"Yup, I'll meet you there. By the way," he called out, before she could join the flock of hospital staff striding towards the entrance, "since we have the same schedule today, how about we grab lunch together?"

"I can't. I'm using my lunch break to study. I have to take my boards in a few weeks." Amber's gaze flickered to Jo. Her sister-in-law still seemed oddly tense. She had her hands crossed in front of her chest, giving Alex the stink eye.

Alex didn't notice any of it, though. Unless he was willfully ignoring it. "But you still gotta eat," he pointed out to Amber. "Besides, I could quiz you. I did that all the time when you were in grade school."

Which was true. But what Alex failed to realize was that this was not a solely pleasant memory for Amber anymore. It just reminded her that he wasn't there for her in any capacity at all after grade school. School events in middle school, graduating high school and college, all the hardships she had to endure afterwards - it had all happened without him. The years of his absence had tainted many of their shared memories for Amber.

"No thanks," she said evenly, slinging her bag over her shoulder, ready to go. "I don't need your help. Not anymore."

* * *

 **Author's Notes: So Alex lied to Amber. Did you expect that? Do think he should have told her the truth? Or do you cut him some slack, because the situation is tricky? Tell me all your thoughts and feelings.**

 **I wasn't very inspired to write lately, but now my muse is back and I hope it's here to stay, so that the next update won't take as long. I am sorry, though, that I let you all wait so long.**


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